“For us, good safety management is an integral part of good business management,” says Agus Haryanto, PT. Badak’s President and CEO. “The ISRS7 Level 8 achievement demonstrates that we have a world class operation and ensures that all our stakeholders are satisfied with our performance in relation to the safety, health, environment, and quality aspects of our business.”

PT. Badak is the world’s fourth largest LNG plant. Located in Bontang, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, it has been in operation for over 30 years and employs over 4,000 people, including contractors. It currently produces about 16.2 mtpa from its eight production trains. The ISRS story started in 2006 when they were one of the first companies to adopt ISRS Edition 7. Since then they have taken the system to their “hearts and minds” and moved through the levels getting more and more benefit from the system.

Explaining the background for using ISRS, PT. Badak’s General Manager, Mr Nanang Untung says, “We have used ISRS for the past four years, and have been working systematically with matters of safety. Prior to ISRS, we implemented our process safety management system, loss prevention manual, environmental management system, and our quality management system. We had a very good record of safe manhours, which peaked at about 64 million hours in 2001. However, in October of the same year there was a fatality in the plant and this led us to reassess our management systems and procedures.”

PT. Badak’s President and CEO Agus Haryanto. Photo: PT. Badak

PT. Badak is the world’s fourth largest LNG plant. Located in Bontang, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, it has been in operation for over 30 years with a maximum capacity of 16.2 mtpa from its eight trains. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is seen as the cleanest fossil fuel and an important transition route to a low-carbon future. Photo: PT. Badak

He continues, “After performing a comprehensive evaluation, it was decided that PT. Badak should develop and implement an integrated management system covering national and international standards to ensure all aspects (S,H,E-Q) were in place to minimise and prevent accidents. However, we needed a proven tool or system to measure our performance so we opted for ISRS7 because it covers many international standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, asset management, the GRI global reporting initiative, to mention a few. The level of safe manhours have improved and we are confident that the system will help us to prevent accidents in the future.”

PT. Badak’s General Manager firmly believes that “what gets measured gets done.” He explains, “When auditing, we are not merely checking compliance with regulations, we also emphasise the adequacy and efficiency of our management system, and look for continuous improvement. We have some simple management rules – namely to set targets, establish and implement plans, measure the outcome, and amend them where needed.”

President Haryanto adds, “Put simply, the ISRS system is a tool which helps us establish, develop, and improve our management systems to achieve our SHE-Q objectives and to have a benchmark with world-class international oil and gas companies.”

Recognised as a rising national LNG player with international ambitions in China and elsewhere, PT. Badak NGL is also sharing its ISRS and SHE-Q knowledge and experience with international LNG players. Yemen LNG, Snøhvit Norway, BP-LNG Tangguh and, more recently, Angola LNG have all sent employees to the Bontang LNG plant for “on-the-job” training, including all aspects of LNG operation and maintenance. “This reflects our standing as a world-class company in our field,” points out President Haryanto.

Commenting on the Level 8 award, DNV Principal Consultant Eric Roos says, “PT. Badak was the first company to start the ISRS7 journey in Asia. Its management is very pro-ISRS and they use the system as their SHE-Q basic structure and measurement tool. They see it as a top-down pro-cess, while also acknowledging the need to give a greater degree of ownership in the system to employees at all levels, strengthening positive attitudes and behaviour. Another key characteristic is their commitment to perform significantly better than anyone else in their industry. We have been very impressed with their performance and this has resulted in them becoming Asia’s first oil and gas company to achieve Level 8.”

As part of its efforts to “shape PT. Badak for the future” President Haryanto revealed that the company is in the process of undergoing a major reorganisation, spread over 2010–2017. “The markets are constantly changing and we also have to change and think about our long term goals and how we are going to get there. It’s too early to mention any details but one thing is for sure, we will continue our ISRS work to maintain world-class SHE-Q systems as this is vitally important for us, our stakeholders, our reputation, and our business.”